Schwarzenegger’s old partner, the macho gas guzzling Hummer, recast as plug-in and green

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had a date today with an old friend, the Hummer — GM’s macho gaz-guzzling former military vehicle which is now being cast as an enviromentally friendly plug- in hybrid.

And that came with little bit of irony: back before he was an environmental steward and advocate for cleaning up greenhouse gasses, action hero Schwarzenegger, as we’ve reported before, became in 1992 the first private citizen to own a Hummer — a behemoth car that weighed in at 6,300 lbs. and was an amazing 7 feet wide.

Many in the auto industry credited the former actor and current California governor with single-handedly introducing the cars — once strictly military vehicles — to the American consumer market.

Environmental critics also noted his endorsement pumped up the big car’s popularity, with armies of Hummers hitting the road and responsible for spewing a lot of greenhouse gas emissions into America’s air.

Schwarzenegger owned and proudly drove a fleet of the cars — and both GM and Hummer, meanwhile, played up their then-lucrative association with him.

But entering politics, Schwarzenegger announced his commitment to convert his Hummers to hydrogen to “let Detroit know that this is what they can do.”

As late as last month, the governor was quoted in the Detriot News publication defending the car.

The News said that Schwarzenegger, touring an auto show, was “a self-described car lover who owns 12 vehicles…(and) said he converted two Hummers — one to hydrogen and one to biofuel — with General Motors Corp.’s help.”

“There is nothing wrong with the Hummer. The Hummer is a great vehicle,” Schwarzenegger told the News. “We should change the technology within those vehicles.”

So that brings us to today, when executives from Raser Technologies, Inc., an energy firm, joined Schwarzenegger to show off the firm’s first plug-in Hummer H3, a mid-sized $60,000 electric vehicle which makers said would get 100 mpg in a 60-mile drive.

But what was good for the public in 1992 is not necessarily good today, he acknowledged.

“I believe low-carbon fuel vehicles are the future and I want to see them succeed right here in California,” Schwarzenegger said in his message event. “That’s why I’m bringing cars like this one to the Capitol where we can show the world there is a market for smart and innovative technologies that will also create jobs in the auto industry.”